This afternoon, Heritage Foundation agriculture expert Daren Bakst had the following to say about the House Farm Bill and its lack of substantial subsidy reforms:

 

“The closer we get to a final vote on the Farm Bill the clearer it becomes that out-of-control farm subsidies and cronyism will win out over common sense, fiscally-responsible policy that Heritage and others have proposed. Advocates for farm subsidy reform are easily winning the policy debate. But special interests couldn’t allow for many of the amendments that would have improved the bill to get a vote because they would have passed.

 

"Unfortunately, the House Rules committee sided with the special interests instead of the American people and prevented almost every farm subsidy amendment from being considered on the floor. The House Farm Bill as it stands continues funneling taxpayer money to the powerful and well-connected and allows even more people not directly involved in farming to receive subsidies. The bill would also channel billions of taxpayer dollars to a small number of producers growing a small number of commodities. This is not a safety net for farmers. It’s a massive crony scheme.”